So are the more emotionally skewering songs, They’re Not Laughing at Me Now and What Is It That I Need That I Don’t Already Have – subtle miniatures that reaffirm Costello as one of the masters of his craft. Of two over-egged spoken word tracks, the dramatic, Arabic-leaning Revolution #49 is a keeper. The remainder of the restless tracklist zigs and zags, as Costello maxes out approaches, musicians and hobbyhorses his lifelong disgust at militarism remains one subplot. By contrast, the title track is an old-time jazzy flail that quotes Fats Waller and again blames romantic disappointment on a perfidious timepiece. No Flag is this album’s crowning glory, a farewell to love whose overdriven churn mirrors Costello’s eloquent anomie. The clock face’s implacable march is one of the themes of this periodically brilliant, if scattershot Elvis Costello album, one recorded in Helsinki, Paris and New York as coronavirus hit.Ĭostello came to prominence mere moments after punk, and although his output since has spanned a kaleidoscope of moods, hard-hitting bile remains one of his greatest default modes. With the privilege of hindsight, this album is so different to his subsequent albums but it’s a humble beginning for a man who would go on to forge a career as a unique songwriter and performer.W hatever the time, it’s usually later than you’d like. He burst into major recognition on both sides of the Atlantic at in 1977 with the release of his debut album My Aim is True at the height of Englands New. There are many moments on this record that remind me of Billy Joel, an artist who having had released a few albums already, was on the brink of releasing his career-defining album, ‘The Stranger,’ shortly after this. ‘(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes’ was the most Elvis Costello-sounding song on the record for me. ‘Mystery Dance,’ is a raw teenage bop straight out of a 1950s diner film scene. On the surface, the album is a straight up rock ‘n roll record, until you get to ‘Alison,’ a song that’s so different to the rest of the record. Elvis Costello famously said that he was “an overnight success after seven years.” Three weeks later he was on the cover of a music newspaper and he hasn’t looked back since. He eventually quit on release of the full album and his wages were matched by his new label, Stiff Records. He would call in sick from his day job as a data entry clerk to make the recordings a job he maintained throughout the release of the first two singles. Costello recorded it over six four-hour studio sessions, to total record of 24 hours. The debut album by Elvis Costello is an understated record of back to back genius songwriting.

Elvis costello albums